iTunes Shuffle: Chuck & Sarah
by Extreme Stratusfaction
Summary: Short stories written to random songs from iTunes. Longer than duration of songs. Artists: Elliott Smith, Relient K, and Bon Iver. Chuck/Sarah


_You know the deal, press 'shuffle' and write. Mine are longer than the usual ones just because I like when the stories have some substance and aren't just restating the obvious. I recommend listening to "Angel In The Snow" and "Blood Bank" during their respective stories simply because they follow the lyrics and will be more easily understood if you know the lyrics. Don't worry, they're good songs. I'm only posting 3 for now, but if I get a good response I might do more._

**Angel In The Snow – Elliott Smith**

He was perfect. Smart, funny, cute, and everything she wanted. She wanted so badly to just be a normal couple. To be able go through a day without having to push those thoughts to the back of her mind. Being with him made her want to drop the hardcore agent persona she had built up over years of service and just be a girl who was madly in love with her boyfriend.

Love. That's a bad idea for so many reasons. She's his handler. She had wanted to stop these feelings before they got too strong but he just made her feel like she finally belonged somewhere. Not in a town or country, but just with him. It was like her whole purpose in life was to find him and stay by his side for the rest of her life.

She had repeatedly kept her mouth shut when they were having honest talks about their relationship. One thing she had vocalized on more than one occasion was that she could not tell him anything that would compromise herself. She wanted to believe he knows she loves him, but was that even enough?

As she lay in his bed next him for another night spent for cover, she realized thinking like this wasn't going to make those things happen any sooner. For now, she was just going to lay beside Chuck imagining a life where she can openly tell him without any consequences,

"I love you."

In the dark she felt him put his arm around her and kiss her head. "I know."

**Be My Escape – Relient K**

Chuck and Sarah needed each other equally.

Chuck had been stuck in a rut for over five years before she came along. She was the only person in those five years that actually made him want to better himself. If not for himself, then for her. She deserved a guy striving to be greater than an assistant manager at a Buy More. She was what got him up every morning to go work a dead-end job before chasing down terrorists. Even though he dreaded the danger and violence of espionage, if he had to go through that every day of his life just to be able to walk over to Orange Orange and have lunch with Sarah. She was not only his escape from his pathetic "real life," but also from the emotionally straining spy world.

Sarah had lived her whole life emotionally shut off from people. Trust issues, daddy issues, and any other issues she had had caused her to build up these walls and never let anyone in. For awhile she had been proud of being such a emotionally detached agent. It was good for her job. Little did she know that all it would take was a Nerd Herd supervisor with curly hair and a bright smile to erase all the work she had done. Although she still struggled with letting him in, it felt so good just being herself around him that she kept wanting to do it more and more. She regretted turning him down so often before. She was only trying to look out for him. Sarah realized that she needed him as much as he needed her. They were practically begging each other to be their escape.

**Blood Bank – Bon Iver**

They met at the Buy More. Sarah made the first move. Sure it was for a mission, but he wasn't complaining. It turned out to be the most exciting and terrifying night of his life when they went on their "first" first date. Funny thing is, when he thinks back on that night, he doesn't remember disarming a bomb or driving backwards down a busy street in the Herder. No, What Chuck Bartowski thinks of is how the breeze pushed Sarah's hair into her beautiful face as she asked him to trust her. And he did.

She had secrets, but then again, who doesn't? Hers of course were a little more extreme than others but it somehow didn't change the way he felt about her. Chuck had no idea how much it tore her up inside to not be able to tell him anything real. Not being able to tell Chuck affected her more than anyone else she had met in her life. As a kid she lied to everyone about who she really was. Hell, she didn't even know. After joining the CIA, everyone she met had secrets. She didn't tell them hers and they didn't tell her theirs. Even though it scared her to no end, she knew what she's feeling for him must be a good thing. If it weren't, she wouldn't be spending her free time thinking about him with a stupid smile on her face or blushing every time he complimented her.

They each had the same favorite memory of each other. Once Chuck had proven himself a valuable member of the team, they had started getting more advanced missions. This one mission brought them to, oddly enough, Wisconsin. Sarah had taken Chuck to the cabin of the guy they had been tracking down for surveillance while Casey was busy sorting through the folders of information on the guy back at their cabin. Sarah had parked the car in the woods hidden from view. They had been there for three hours without a sign of anything before Chuck asked for the binoculars. As he looked around, something finally caught his eye that caused him to flash. It confirmed that nothing important was happening for a while. Sarah decided it was best to just call it a night and go back, but the car wouldn't start. They had been snowed in. Chuck's fingers were beginning to go numb from the cold, so without hesitating, Sarah rubbed both his hands to keep them warm. He heard her stomach start to rumble, so he kindly offered her the Snickers bar in his "stakeout backpack." She laughed at his preparedness, but gratefully took it.

"Just our luck, huh?" he said.

"Is it so bad?" Sarah asked him.

"Actually, I can't think of anywhere else I'd rather be."

Then, for the first time, without any legend agents or chemical bombs in the background and only a crescent moon present, they started to kiss.

It was hard living a double life, but what made it easier was living a double life with the person they loved. For once in her life, Sarah wasn't on her own. She knew she could rely on Chuck for anything and he knew the same about her. Everything they faced, they faced together.

Now after leaving the world of espionage behind, Chuck and Sarah Bartowski were making new memories with their own family. Instead of Twilight Zone marathons, pajamas, and eggnog, what they looked forward to the most on December 25th was the sounds of their kids' feet running down the stairs early in the morning to check under the tree. Yes, Sarah now "did" Christmas, thanks to her heart-warming husband. Sitting in Chuck's arms as she watched the kids unwrap their presents, she couldn't think of anywhere else she'd rather be.


End file.
